Chapter 1: Babysitting!?


"Babysitting?" Miharuko exclaimed, almost getting up from her chair. She had agreed to follow Kakashi-sensei to a nearby coffee shop, now obviously an attempt to butter her up.

Kakashi-sensei held up his hands defensively. "Easy, easy, Miharu-chan." He had obviously expected this reaction, which was why he had chosen a rather public place to announce the news. "I didn't say you would be babysitting them. Well, not in so many words; and besides, this should be fun, ne~?"

"Fun?" hissed Miharuko, glaring at the jounin. "How could this possibly be fun?"

"Now, now. Don't be like that. Why don't you just meet them first before you decide?"

Miharuko huffed, blowing her hair out of her eyes. "Like I have a choice in the matter,"(1) she muttered, mostly to herself. Kakashi-sensei raised an eye at this attitude and she crossed her arms across her chest, looking away. "Fine. Where are the brats you want me to babysit?"

"Actually, about that…"

"Sankei-en? Seriously? Isn't this overkill?" She turned to face Kakashi-sensei. "You really wanted to butter me up that much?"

Kakashi-sensei looked away, scratching his right ear. "I can't possibly know what you mean."

"You know that Sankei-en is my favorite place in Yokohama. This traditional Japanese garden found in the Naka Ward of Yokohama, it's—my favorite spot since that day." She sighed and looked away.

Kakashi-sensei coughed, looking away guiltily. "Sorry. Didn't mean to open old scars." He whispered. He nodded to her, then turned to survey the area. "Alright! You can come out now!"

There was some rustling and several ninja assembled before them. She took a step back. "So many? And these kids are at least genin!"

"Heh heh, you're good, lady." A blond haired kid laughed. "I'm Uzamaki Naruto, and I'm gonna be the next Hokage!"

"Shut up, Usuratonkachi.(2)" A black haired kid with hair sticking up in the back barked. Immediately, the two began to squabble. A pink haired girl soon joined the squabble, adding to the annoying noise.

Another boy sighed, running a hand over his hair. "Sigh. Such a drag." She looked at him, barely concealing the smirk his statement almost brought to her lips.

"Shikamaru! Don't talk like that!" an annoying blond haired chick scolded. The boy next to her munched on his chips noisily. Another boy sighed but kept silent, his lavender eyes glaring at the noisy group. Besides him, a kid with bushy eyebrows introduced himself. "I'm Lee Rock! I will be the greatest taijustu ninja there ever was."

There were others too. A boy with a small dog on his head, a boy with sunglasses and a large coat, a shy girl with purple eyes, a confident girl with two round buns of hair on her head. Twelve kids altogether. Miharuko sighed at the sheer possibilities. "These kids are nothing like what I pictured. When you said I would be babysitting—I mean training—a few students, I assumed you meant from the academy. What am I supposed to do with twelve inexperienced genin?"

"Train them, of course. Teach them about the world you live in; show them how you survive and live day to day as a modern day ninja in Tokyo. They can't learn about that kind of stuff stuck in the Hidden Leaf village, here in Yokohama." Kakashi-sensei smiled at her before turning to address the students. "Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, shut up. All of you, this is going to be your new teacher, Midorikawa Miharuko.(3) Miharuko was a student, collogue and good friend of mine while she trained in the village. She will be teaching you how to survive in Tokyo for the next three months. If you can survive her training, you might just get an extension of time to spend in Tokyo. Now line up and introduce yourselves; while you're at it, why not tell her a little about yourselves."

"I'm Uzamaki Naruto! My dream is to become Hokage one day!" The blond haired kid piped up once more.

"Usuratonkachi." The boy next to him muttered. "Uchiha Sasuke. No dreams, just one goal."

"A goal? That's good." Miharuko acknowledged. She wasn't going to ask what it was, but he answered as if she had. "I want to track down and kill a certain someone."

She raised an eyebrow in his direction. "Pretty specific goal." She turned to face the next boy. Purple eyes stared as though trying to see through her. "Hyuga Neji. I want to get out from under the branch family name." She nodded.

"Lee Rock. I'm going to be the best taijustu ninja there ever was!"

"TenTen. I'm a weapon's master."

"This is such a drag. Shikamaru Nara. No goals, no real dreams or aspirations."

"Yamanaka Ino. My goal is to beat Sakura!"

"No fair! Hanuro Sakura! My dream is…. Well, my goal is to pound Ino into the ground!"

"Akimichi Choji." She smiled at him, nodding in his direction.

"Inuzuka Kiba and this little fella is Akumaru. He's my whole life."

"Aburame Shino. I like bugs."

"Uh-uh-um. Um, Hyuga Hinata. Um, my dreams…" She fell silent glancing around.

"It's fine, you can tell me later if you want." She turned to Kakashi-sensei. "One question before you go and drop them in my care, leaving me to fend for myself with a bunch of kids." Sasuke growled at her comment.

"Yes?" He sighed, hoping it wasn't something to troublesome.

"Am I to let them get on the Yokosuka Line looking like that, or should I get them new clothes? Cause I'm certainly sure as hell not walking all the way back to Tokyo with a bunch of kids dressed as ninjas following me."

Kakashi smiled at this statement. She really hadn't changed a bit.


(1) No, she really doesn't have a choice.

(2) Usuratonkachi—total moron; what Sasuke calls Naruto throughout the series, apparently.

(3) She is introduced in the typical Japanese way, given (last) name first.